Pisonia .] 
NYCTAGINACEA3. 
263 
* P. aculeata , Linn. ; Choisy in DC. Prod. xiii. 2, 440, a native of 
Tropical America now widely spread in the Old World, is naturalised 
in Mauritius. It is a climbing shrub, with slender terete stems armed 
with large spreading hooked pungent spines in the axils of the leaves, 
petioled oblong subcoriaceous glabrous acute leaves, male flowers in 
dense peduncled axillary corymbose panicles with pubescent branches, 
pedicels none or very short, perianth pubescent in. long and as 
broad at the throat when expanded, stamens 6-8 distinctly exserted, 
female flowers in very lax panicles with pedicels an inch or more long, 
clavate fruit-perianth f in. long armed with 5 rows of hard gland' 
tipped bristles. Bambaras. 
1. P. macrophylla, Choisy in DC. Prod . xiii. 2, 446. An erect 
3mall tree 15-20 feet high with stout unarmed branchlets. Leaves 
membranous, |-1 ft. or more long, acute, rounded or cuneate at the 
base, with strong erecto-patent ribs, slightly pubescent on the under 
side when young ; petiole 1-1\ in. long. Male flowers in dense corym- 
bose panicles 2-3 in. broad with downy branches ; pedicels none or 
very short. Perianth £ in. long, narrowly funnel-shaped, pilose, with 
minute deltoid lobes. Stamens 8, finally just exserted. Pruit- 
perianth clavate, with 5 rows of short spreading gland-tipped bristles ; 
not seen fully mature. Calpidia macrophylla, Bojer , Sort. Maur. 
265. 
Seychelles, near the summit of Home Blanc at a height of 2000 feet, Horne , 
555 ! Also Island of Galega, Bojer ! The Seychelles specimen is in bud only, so 
that the plant needs comparison with that from Galega, as described, in mature 
flower and fruit. Bois Mapou. 
5. P. viscosa, Balf. fil. An erect unarmed tree with stout 
branchlets. Leaves obovate, 3-4 in. long, membranous, slightly pubes- 
cent at first beneath, deltoid at the base, obtuse or obscurely cuspi- 
date, turning as in the rest nearly black when dried ; petiole | in. 
Panicle of male flowers dense, 1J-2 in. broad, corymbose, as long as 
the leaves, densely brown-pubescent ; pedicels in., with minute 
subulate bracts. Perianth ^ in. narrowly funnel-shaped, pilose ; teeth 
minute, deltoid. Stamens 10, just exserted. Pruit-panicle half a foot 
broad, with erecto-patent pedicels in. long. Pruit-perianth under 
\ in. long, with 5 rows of spreading short gland-tipped bristles, the seed 
reaching to the top. 
Rodriguez, on the shore, especially at He aux Fregates, Balfour ! Endemic. 
Mapou. 
3. P. costata, Clioisy in DC. Prod. xiii. 2, 446. A tree, reaching 
a height of 30-40 feet, with stout unarmed corky branchlets. Leaves 
crowded at the end of the branchlets, ferrugineo-pilose on the petiole 
and ribs beneath till mature, oblong, immature when the flowers 
are produced, finally \ foot long, with strong erecto-patent main 
ribs; petiole 1-1 \ in. long. Male corymbs 2-3 in. broad, very dense, with 
